Slice Of Amish Life: Making Soft Pretzels (Video)

Today we have a video “slice of life”. This one comes from Daniel Stoltzfus, whose wife Lydia shared her scrap quilts in a recent clip. In this video, Daniel is filming and talking with a lady who I assume is one of his Amish relatives (a sister?) as she rolls and weaves pretzels on the kitchen counter.

At one point Daniel hams it up a bit, marveling at her skill. “Boy you’re going to be famous, if I may post this anyway,” he teases. “I’ll try not to post your face, that way they can’t tell if you have covering strings or not.”

We don’t see the pretzels in their final baked form, but something tells me these are going to be tasty. As far as learning to make them, “it doesn’t take long to catch on,” the woman explains.

The Amish have sort of a high-profile pretzel connection of course, with one of the most famous pretzel businesses in the country (Auntie Anne’s) having been founded by a woman who grew up Amish in Lancaster County. This is pretzel-making on a much smaller scale. But I wonder how similar these pretzels taste to Auntie Anne’s? I don’t think I’ve ever tried those, though I bet some of you have. In any case, pretzel-making kind of looks like fun.

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    14 Comments

    1. Maureen

      Soft pretzels

      I’m gonna try making em!!

    2. sylvie

      Bonsoir,

      Cela donne envie d’en faire…dommage que l’on ne les voient pas à la sortie du four…
      En Alsace les Bretzels sont principalement salés, recouverts de gros sel. Ils ont la même forme croisée que dans la vidéo.
      Chez nous dans le Haut-Rhin le Bretzel se prononce “bratzel”
      On trouve également une variante avec la même pâte sous forme de petit pain que l’on appelle “mauricette”.
      Est-ce que les Bretzels Amish sont salés ou sucrés?

      1. June

        Note on Brazels

        ll AT&T? 19:06 Close rGet the Amish in your Inbox Subscribe × close sylvie Comment on Slice Of Amish Life: Making Soft Pretzels (Video) (December 4, 2020 at 5:25 pm) Good evening, It makes you want to do some … too bad you can’t see when you come out of the oven … In Alsace pretzels are mainly salted, covered with coarse salt. They have the same cross shape as in the video. With us in the Haut-Rhin the Bretzel is pronounced “bratzel” We also find a variant with the same dough in the form of a small bread called “mauricette”. Are Amish pretzels salty or sweet? to review Coach Outlet COACH OUTLET 1% Cash Back Rokuten Free Coupons & Promo Codes

        I translated this from the French to English. My moms family was from Alsace/ Lorraine.

        1. Thanks June, that helps:) Sylvie I’ll have to reply in English as my French is extremely limited. It’s interesting to hear about your local pretzel variants. I don’t know how these particular people make them, but I think the pretzels are generally salty but can have a light sweet glaze. The ones from places like Auntie Anne’s can be both salty or sweet, sometimes very sweet apparently (cinnamon sugar version). Maybe these people make them similarly, unfortunately I’m more of an expert on doughnuts:)

    3. Leslie Harris

      Tasty video

      I’ve tried Auntie Annie’s soft pretzels – such a tasty treat!

      Thanks so much for the video Erik. 🙂

      1. Gladly! To be honest those pretzels smell so good whenever I pass one of those places I’m surprised I haven’t tried one by now.

        1. Romain S.

          I come to the rescue! 🙂
          Indeed, the Pretzels originated from the south of Germany, of which Alsace was a part. Pretzels are an integral part of our popular culture. For a few years now, there is even a logo of the Alsace region that takes the shape of a pretzel and a heart that is affixed on products made in Alsace. In lower Alsace we say bradschdal, the word comes from the popular Latin “brachitella” which means “arms”, indeed, the shape of the pretzel is in the form of crossed arms. The pretzel is attested since the year 743, because it appears on a tapestry “Hortus deliciarum” which was realized in abbey of the holy mount Odile in lower Alsace. On the sign of the bakers of Alsace, one does not find the French bread baguette 🙂 but a pretzel.
          For the legend, a baker from Bouxwiller (lower Alsace) was imprisoned by the king because he had badly cooked his bread. He was given an ultimatum of 3 days at the end of which, if he had not invented a bread from which the sun is seen three times, he would be executed. It was when he saw his wife praying on her knees with her arms crossed over her chest that the baker got the idea of the shape of the pretzel.
          That’s it!

          Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

          1. Thank you Romain! Interesting back story, had never heard that.

    4. Sylvie / Brezels- pour Erik

      aide 🙂 Sylvie je devrai répondre en anglais car mon français est extrêmement limité. II est intéressant d’entendre parler de vos variantes de bretzel locales. Je ne sais pas comment ces personnes en particulier les fabriquent, mais je pense que les bretzels sont généralement | salé mais peut avoir un glaçage légèrement sucré. Ceux venant d’endroits comme Auntie Anne peuvent être à la fois salés ou sucrés, parfois très sucrés apparemment (version sucre cannelle). Peut-être que ces gens les fabriquent de la même manière, malheureusement, je suis plus un expert en beignets 🙂

    5. Maureen

      pretzel to the rescue

      Isn’t that something?!
      Amaging story indeed.
      Thanks for sharing.

    6. Aj

      There is one Amish pretzel maker in Lancaster that I just love, especially their hotdog pretzels. They use a cheese/cream cheese type spread that is spread along the inside where the hotdog is wrapped by the pretzel and it just gives it a unique sweet/savory flavor. All of their pretzels are good though. Amish are synonymous with pretzels, doughnuts, potato salad, and pretty much every and all things bakery and deli in eastern Pennsylvania and throughout the area.

    7. Aj

      By the way you can tell they’re Pennsylvania Amish. They have that Pennsylvania Dutch accent. I’m not sure that accent is found everywhere. I don’t remember hearing it among Indiana’s Amish. They have their own accent I believe.

      1. That’s right, it is different in Indiana and the Midwest. Not nearly so distinct. The Lancaster accent has almost a singing quality to it.

    8. Pretzels

      I noticed a recipe book on the counter next to the pretzels. While the basic recipe is common enough to be memorized after years of making them, I wonder if maybe she didn’t make them very often or was trying something a bit different.